Saint John the Baptist Church, Catholic parish church in Ratheim, Hückelhoven, Germany

Saint John the Baptist Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Ratheim, Hückelhoven, set back from Am Kirchberg street and surrounded by a small green area. It is a three-aisled hall church in Gothic and Neo-Gothic style, with a four-bay nave, a three-storey recessed west tower crowned by a baroque hood, a transept, side choirs and a five-sided choir. The red-brown brick building has a dark sloping roof, pointed-arch windows with two-light tracery, and a square roof turret over the crossing.

A church existed in Ratheim by the 12th century and was first documented in 1305, when Dean Arnold von Ratheim of the Heinsberg St. Gangolf collegiate foundation donated the Ratheim court to it. The Romanesque nave walls survive from the 11th or 12th century; in the 15th century the building was vaulted and given a south aisle, a new choir and the present bell tower. After the choir was demolished, Cologne architect Friedrich von Schmidt planned the transept and choir with sacristy, built from 1861 and consecrated on 28 October 1868. A north aisle in Gothic style followed in 1971/72.

The parish takes its name from John the Baptist, to whom the church is dedicated. Its territory once reached beyond Ratheim: Schaufenberg and Millich belonged to it until 1969, and Altmyhl was transferred to it in 1979. The four bronze bells, cast by Otto in 1905, ring in the Veni sancte spiritus motif.

The church stands slightly set back on Am Kirchberg in Ratheim's village centre, surrounded by a small green area. It is a listed building (No. 2 on Hückelhoven's monument list). The parish also covers Altmyhl with its St. Josef chapel, plus Busch, Faulendriesch, Garsbeck, Gendorf, Klaerhof, Krickelberg and Vogelsang.

The tower holds four bronze bells cast by the Otto foundry in 1905. Three were removed for armament during the Second World War, but none were melted down and all returned to Ratheim intact. They ring in the Veni sancte spiritus motif.